Libya air force base evacuation vanderbilt television. Wheelus afb tripoli libya, flagpole with the propeller of the lady be good see more. Wheelus air base was a united states air force base located in britishoccupied libya and the. The base had a beach club, the largest military hospital outside the us, a multiplex cinema, a bowling alley and a high school for 500 students. Mar 06, 2011 wheelus air base was named for richard e. Wheelus air force base, libya, may 31a ceremonial contingent of 52 military men is all that remains in opera tion at the last united states air force base on the african continent. During the six day war pitting israel against its arab neighbors in 1967, americans were thrust into the crisis even though they werent directly involved in the fighting. Air forces in europe, and commander, allied air forces central europe, with headquarters at ramstein air base, west germany. Wheelus air base, tripoli international airport, benina international airport, mitiga international airport by llc books creator online at alibris. You never know exactly what is going to make an impression out there in the wide wide world, and for the most part, i assume i dont make much of one anyway. Its host unit under mats was the 1603d air transport wing. On may 17, 1945, the american military renamed the facility wheelus air base in honor of 1st lt. Arabic inscription on front multicolored background. The wheelus air base, tripoli, libya 19471970 facebook page is a page to remember our time spent here by both libyan and american military and civilian personnel.
Of varied backgrounds and constantly on the move in our nations defense or pursuit of oil, we converged on the edge of the desert and the shores of the mediterranean. While in tripoli, libya, air force personnel and their dependents lived in wheelus air force base housing for the most part, but the families of men who worked for the state department and some of its agencies, or for oil companies searching for black gold, lived in many different areas of tripoli from garden city to georgimpopoli, a coastal. Wheelus air base was a united states air force base located in britishoccupied libya and the kingdom of libya from 1943 to 1970. Libya soon gets wheelus, including bowling alleys the new york. Following the bases ownership neatly parallels world history s major. I am interested if any of you have memories, photos, stories etc on the wheelus airbase. The libyan esther kofod family memories childhood memories air force bases yahoo images aerial view image search city photo abs history. In the words of an official usaf history, libyas dark suspicions of usaf. This article incorporates public domain material from the air force historical. We at wheelus schools were the nomadic americans tripoli, to us, was but a temporary stopping place.
Jun 08, 2012 cw intercept operator 34th rsm, wheelus afb, tripoli,libya april 1953sept 1954. Wheelus air base was originally built by the italian royal air force in 1923 and was known as. From september 1937 to march 1942, he attended tuskegee. The pictures were taken in the middle 1960s at wheelus air base located outside tripoli,libya a few miles and also down town tripoli also pictures of the roman ruins which i believe were taken at leptus magna there are pictures of the wheelus rodeo club just off base a little ways where they also had live. While in tripoli, libya, air force personnel and their dependents lived in wheelus air force base housing for the most part, but the families of men who worked for the state department and some of its agencies, or for oil companies searching for black gold, lived in many different areas of tripoli from garden city to georgimpopoli, a coastal area on the western edges of the city. After israel preemptively attacked egyptian forces on june 5. Vintage military air force air base photo wheelus airbase. The usaf base that had arisen from its italiangermanbritish airfield at the beginning of the war had been sited on the home straights of the circuit and many traces of its glorious racing days 193340. Thanks for a history lesson i would never have thought to learn about myself. Basicintermediate morse code instructor april 1955sept 1956.
Sep 16, 2012 you never know exactly what is going to make an impression out there in the wide wide world, and for the most part, i assume i dont make much of one anyway. A brief but vivid memory to help put our history in and with libya in perspective. Wheelus became a vital link in sac war plans for use as a bomber, tanker refueling and reconfighter base. Following the bases ownership neatly parallels world historys. I recognize some of the names on this bbs site that i see on the wheelus afb exservicemen facebook page i served at wheelus 196576 at the bomb dumb in munitions.
Wheelus aaf was inactivated on 15 may 1947, then reactivated as wheelus air base wheelus ab on 1 june 1948 and transferred to the usaf military air transport service mats. Did you serve with 7272fms wheelus air base, tripoli, libya. In 1960 the belgian congo was a colony in west central africa belonging to belgium and surrounded by angola, the middle congo and the central african republic both originally part of french equatorial africa, the sudan, uganda, ruandaurundi, tanganyika, rhodesia, and the atlantic ocean. Showing locations, usafss unit identifiers and inclusive years of assignment, the usafss unit locations list above is an excerpt from freedom through vigilance. The mems group enjoys a night at the nco club, 1963. Please look at the pictures closely to get a more accurate description of the. I was stationed at wheelus afb libya and the word force was left out of alot of listings. The base had a beach club, the largest military hospital outside the us, a multiplex cinema. The passenger terminal at wheelus airfield, tripoli, libya, a major u. Richard wheelus, an airman who was killed in iran earlier that year. Today the facility is known as mitiga international airport.
The story of stigler and brown is told in detail in the 2012 book a. James assumed command of wheelus air force base, libya in 1969, in the wake of colonel muammar khadafys coup. Wheelus afb tripoli libya wheelus air base, tripoli, libya. There are a few other minor creases and some minor surface imperfections. Libya banknote, the law of february 5, 1963 quarter pound currency note. Wheelus because of his insightful communications to his tower during a fatal mechanical failure of his craft during flight training. In return for base rights, the regime of king idris received military assistance grants and the right to purchase excess stocks of u. At one time it was the largest us military facility outside the us. A video about wheelus air base which was located about seven miles due east of tripoli, the capital of libya, wheelus air base was originally built by the italian air force as mellaha ab in 1923. Photos of tripoli, libya, in the 1950s, wheelus afb, my. Eglin 75 is filled with historic photographs and stories spanning eglins humble beginnings to its current place as the largest air force base in the world. Air force base in libya now tripolis mitiga international airport, and a second section with 50 photographs measuring 5 x 3.
Wheelus air base was a united states air force base located in. Soon, an airman will haul down the stars and stripes and col. With its 4,600 americans, the us ambassador to libya once called it a little america. He also thought the book was well written, and he now knows what his little brother, me, did while in germany for three years. During the korean war, the air force activated the 580th air resupply and communications wing at mountain home afb, idaho. Wheelus looms large in the memories of air force veterans and their families.
We have new and used copies available, in 0 edition starting at. Wheelus air base project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. The army awarded the group with the distinguished unit citation and inactivated the unit in 1944. He has written more than 600 articles about aviation topics and 50 books, the. Im sharing some more interesting information i received from terence sharkey about libya. Wheelus air base was used in october 1954, june 1955 and march 1956 for livefire exercises for matador crews stationed in europe. Above new years eve 1962, bitburg air base nco club from left. He passed away in 2014 and im writing a book about his life and wanted to. Wheelus air force base was located right outside the city of tripoli in libya. Also shows usaf dependents arriving by bus at wheelus ab, dependents boarding a c and a c124. Air force bulletin board results wheelus air base tripoli korean war project. Jul 24, 20 many who read accounts of the event no doubt were hearing the name wheelus air base for the first time.
Project blue book unknowns this list claims 701 ufo reports which represent all of the unexplained sightings recorded by the air forces project blue book, a seventeen year investigation. Wheelus air force base, libya, may 31a ceremonial contingent of 52 military men is all that remains in opera tion at the last united. The libyan esther kofod family memories childhood memories stained glass windows ethiopia map history places life stained glass panels. Between its construction in 1923, and the end of the cold war in 1991, wheelus air base belonged to five major world powers.
The relationship between the people of libya, on one hand, and the allies, on the other, soon was clouded by politics. The list provides the dates, locations, and blue book case numbers for the incidents. Thirtysix missiles were launched into the surrounding desert areas during each annual exercise. For anyone at or interested in wheelus air force base, tripoli libya during the june 1967 arab israeli war i stumbled on an archives. In 1923, the italian conquerors opened mehalla air base near tripoli. James recalled an incident with khadafy shortly after the takeover. This article incorporates public domain material from the air force historical research agency website. Air force base located near tripoli, libya wheelus was established as an american military installation in 1954. General donnelly was born in 1929, in barberton, ohio, and graduated.
I also sang with a english group traveling the area and singing at the pier pavillian in felixstowe on the weekends. Since this edit the article has maintained that wheelus ab was subsequently named okba ben nafi airfield. I just wanted to drop you a line and tell you how much i enjoyed the book that you and bob wrote. The book wheelus air base, tripoli, libya we at wheelus schools were the nomadic americans tripoli, to us, was but a temporary stopping place. It was a gunnery practice site for pilot training with most of the pilots coming from germany on a regular basis. Air force bbs results wheelus air base tripoli korean war project. Wheelus air base, tripoli, libya a video about wheelus. The plane, which was from 376th bomb group, was believed to have been lostwith its nineman crewin the mediterranean sea while returning to its base in libya following a bombing raid on naples on april 4, 1943. Wheelus air base news newspapers books scholar jstor september.
Major general mooney, commanding the 16th af, was stationed there. Air force bbs results wheelus air base tripoli korean war. Laidin is simpkinss signed travel voucher from 1961. Sadly, as sport does, its popularity attracted crooks too.
I was at wheelus field air base nov 1954 to nov 1955 with the 7272 air police sq. Appendix b of each volume of the book is a 20page list of worldwide locations location, unit identifier and inclusive datesat which air force security service units served. Came here in feb 65 and novdec 66 when each of my children were born. Following the bases ownership neatly parallels world history s major events, and follows the evolution of power throughout the 20th century. Wheelus air base was a united states air force base located in the kingdom of libya. It is not the place for political or criticism of either the libyan or american people who served at wheelus. Popular air force history books goodreads share book. At the time, wheelus did not have any record of an american plane. For usaf members of the 1950s and 1960s, though, the news brought a flood of recollection about a world that vanished decades ago.
Wheelus air base, originally known as mellaha air base when it was built by the italian air force in 1923, had been in use by american air forces since 1943 when it was used to base american heavy bombers of the fifteenth air force. Any body that was at wheelus ever go out in the desert to see the women of gharyan. Wheelus air base air force space and missile museum. Air force bbs results wheelus air base tripoli korean. The story of the schweinfurt raid by martin caidin, warthog. Wheelus air base, tripoli for those looking for a more direct way to contact wheelus friends and acquaintances, there is a facebook page for wheelus that might be useful. It had an area of 20 sq miles on the coast of tripoli. In men, joe harding is still at wheelus afb in libya, a backwater during the vietnam war. Of varied backgrounds and constantly on the move in our nations defense or pursuit of oil, we converged on. C141, t39, and c landing, c124 and c118 taking off, aerial views of temporary tent encampment, hundreds of automobiles belonging to evacuees, a burnt automobile and other evidence of local antiamerican feeling and barricades and security. Vintage military air force air base photo wheelus airbase tripoli libya overall moderate edge ware.
Wheelus air base, tripoli, libya a video about wheelus air. One of the charts in the book measures the relative affect of overseas life on kids by age and. Contains 86 black and white photographs neatly held in place on thick paper leaves with corner mounts, interleaved with embossed. Wheelus air base stock pictures, royaltyfree photos. Ethiopia united states mapping mission wheelus afb tripoli libya, flagpole with the propeller of the lady be good. Not all the military guys are bad guys, and not all the gay guys are good guys, so the story is nuanced.
Wheelus was a big base and it housed about 10,000 personnel and it was considered the largest base overseas at that time. He was able to rely enough information for all other like crafts to be inspected and potentially saving numerous lives and crafts. Fliers suddenly found themselves in hostile lands from the middle east to north africa, americans faced the possibility of detention or worse war is boring. Wheelus air base, libya wheelus air base was located on the mediterranean coast, just east of tripoli, libya. Fitzgerald, ray sacramone, bob wolf, dan pond, ed peck, bill krebs, jim larimer, mike wilczynski, gerry king, and gene davis. Following the bases ownership neatly parallels world historys major events, and.
Wheelus air base news newspapers books scholar jstor. The unit conducted psychological warfare operations and deployed to wheelus air base, libya in 1952. Wheelus air base, tripoli confessions of ignorance. Libya soon gets wheelus, including bowling alleys the. Lady be good is a usaaf b24d liberator that disappeared without a trace on its first combat mission during world war ii. Find highquality wheelus air base stock photos and editorial news pictures from getty images. Wheelus air base was originally built by the italian air force in 1923 and known as mellaha air base. After invading in 1911, italy took control of libya as a colony. Chappie james confronts qaddafi at wheelus afb libya1969. Full cloth boards with a copper plate replica of the selimiye mosque edirne, turkey in relief on the front cover. The history was of particluar interest to me and my brother who was a history professor at the university of wisconsin.
Tuy hoa air base, vietnam highest rank major prisoner of war no. Cw intercept operator 26th rsm, march afb oct 1954march 1955. Corners are rounded with crush and very tiny creases. Experience the history of the eglin air force base with this commemorative hardcover coffeetable book, brought to you by the northwest florida daily news. What makes his piece even more interesting to me is the fact that i edited a memoir last year the gods who fell from the african sky by dick mawson that related mawsons adventures on the racing circuits another name for racetracks in rhodesia and south africa. But every once in awhile, it turns out that your posts do count for something, and such is the case with the blog post i put up in march of 2011 on wheelus air base in tripoli.
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